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AN EAST KILBRIDE mechanic jailed for a tax and national insurance fraud worth nearly £209,000 has been told to pay up.

As reported by Workshop Magazine last month, Iain Wilson, of MacKenzie Gardens in East Kilbride, failed to declare his true income as the sole proprietor of his business, Milton MOTs, in Arrotshole Road, from 2009 to 2014.

An investigation by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) revealed that the 61-year-old was suppressing his earnings in his self-assessment tax returns and evaded £208,912.62 in income tax and national insurance contributions.

He was sent to prison for 18 months by Hamilton Sheriff Court after being found guilty, following a trial at the same court in November 2017, of one charge each of the fraudulent evasion of income tax and the fraudulent evasion of national insurance contributions.

Action to recover the proceeds of his crime was launched and Wilson now faces selling his home after a confiscation hearing at the court. He has been ordered to pay back within six months the money that he stole. More than £110,000 in cash seized from his home in April 2014 is being used to pay part of the confiscation order.

Afterwards, Joe Hendry, assistant director of HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service, said: ‘Wilson is already serving a prison sentence but our work doesn’t stop at conviction. We will always seek to recover the profits criminals make from tax evasion and secure these funds for our vital public services.